A mosque that served as a place of worship and cherished community centre for decades has been reduced to rubble by the wildfires ravaging the Los Angeles region.
Dry, hot gusts from the California desert – nicknamed “devil winds” – fanned the flames that consumed Masjid Al-Taqwa on Tuesday night. The mosque is one of thousands of structures that out-of-control fires in Los Angeles devoured this week.
“It is completely gone. There is nothing standing. No pillars. No doors,” said Junaid Aasi, 42, imam at the mosque. “It is devastating. I was just there for the Friday prayer.”
Up to 200 worshippers would attend the mosque on its busiest days, he told The National. Even when it was closed, worshippers could retrieve a key from a nearby halal restaurant to access the building to pray.
“A lot of people feel like the mosque is their home,” said Backer Abu-Jaradeh, who lives close to Masjid Al-Taqwa, where he typically prayed every day.
After a month of fasting, prayer and reflection during Ramadan, many of Al-Taqwa’s members would gather at the mosque to eat together, Mr Abu-Jaradeh and Mr Aasi recalled. “It was like a big family,” Mr Aasi said.
While some of its members worshipped at Al-Taqwa for more than three decades, Mr Aasi said the mosque has been in operation since the late 1970s. It was a modest structure created by the merger of a retail and an office space that became widely revered for its friendly, welcoming atmosphere. There are already efforts to rebuild the mosque, although it is too early for a timeline.
Up to 10 people who attended the mosque regularly lost their homes to the Eaton Fire, which as of Thursday had burnt about 5,700 hectares in the shadow of Mount Wilson, in the San Gabriel Mountains. The Eaton Fire and the Pacific Palisades infernos were the biggest of the wildfires that ripped across the Los Angeles basin this week.
At least seven people are confirmed to have died in the blazes that have destroyed more than 10,000 structures from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena. Many more people have been injured. More than 180,000 people have fled their homes in what is expected to be the most expensive fire disaster in US history.
At an evacuation centre in Pasadena, east of Los Angeles, hundreds of displaced residents took refuge, huddling with pets and children on green camp beds. Food and other essentials were available to those in need.
Farther west, in the upscale Pacific Palisades and Malibu areas, more homes were lost, including those owned by celebrities including Paris Hilton, Billy Crystal, Harrison Ford and Anthony Hopkins. Mansions with manicured lawns and panoramic ocean views were lost in the most destructive fire in the city’s storied history.
“I can’t even comprehend what I am seeing,” Khloe Kardashian said in a post on X. Her celebrity family has homes in Malibu and Calabasas, which are threatened by fires. “This doesn’t seem real. Sending my deepest most sincere gratitude to the brave firefighters, volunteers, neighbours, good Samaritans and first responders working tirelessly to protect lives and communities across California.”
Fires are not new to Los Angeles. But the blame game has never been so severe.
US president-elect Donald Trump wasted little time in criticising California Governor Gavin Newsom, claiming environmental protections for an endangered fish were partly at fault for reports of inadequate water supplies to fight the fires. The complaints about the 7cm fish were deemed a red herring by the governor and his supporters, who said adequate water is available to battle blazes and that Mr Trump’s criticism is without merit.
Meanwhile, rumours of arson permeated many conversations in Southern California, where videos of fires being intentionally lit in urban areas spread across social media. The initial fire in the Pacific Palisades is reported to have started accidentally in the garden of a local resident, who did not adequately prepare. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fires.
Bridget Francisco Cook, who fled Topanga Canyon with her family to take refuge at a friend’s home in Santa Barbara, said the fires felt different than the ones in the past. The lack of air support, which has been hampered by high winds and low visibility, has flummoxed Ms Cook, who says city authorities appear to be unprepared and unorganised.
Two of her friends fled Pacific Palisades, only to evacuate again on Wednesday night when another fire erupted in the Hollywood Hills, Ms Cook said. About 50 of her friends and acquaintances have lost homes in the fires. “I feel lucky my house is not gone like virtually every other person I know,” she added.
The Pentagon sent aircraft, including helicopters and water-dropping planes, to the area to help contain the fires. But hot, hurricane-strength gusts complicated air operations and firefighting resources are stretched thin.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called the disaster the “big one”, adding that the scenes from the largest blaze, the Palisades Fire, are staggering. LA Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley said it was “safe to say that the Palisades Fire is one of the most destructive natural disasters in the history of Los Angeles".
Harsha Thachery, a tourist from Bangalore who was visiting Los Angeles with her husband and two children, said the fires spread at surprising speed on Wednesday. They had been staying at a hotel near Hollywood and were out exploring when they got a call from a friend saying the area was at risk.
“When we got back to the hotel to pack our stuff, I looked out the window and I could see the fire coming down one of the hills, and it was pretty scary,” Ms Thachery told The National. “When we got back to the hotel, it was very chaotic. Everybody was trying to check out and get out.”
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%20Supercharged%203.5-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20400hp%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20430Nm%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh450%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Biography
Favourite Meal: Chicken Caesar salad
Hobbies: Travelling, going to the gym
Inspiration: Father, who was a captain in the UAE army
Favourite read: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter
Favourite film: The Founder, about the establishment of McDonald's
Masters%20of%20the%20Air
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirectors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cary%20Joji%20Fukunaga%2C%20Dee%20Rees%2C%20Anna%20Boden%2C%20Ryan%20Fleck%2C%20Tim%20Van%20Patten%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Austin%20Butler%2C%20Callum%20Turner%2C%20Anthony%20Boyle%2C%20Barry%20Keoghan%2C%20Sawyer%20Spielberg%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20Witcher%20-%20season%20three
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHenry%20Cavill%2C%20Freya%20Allan%2C%20Anya%20Chalotra%3Cstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
PRISCILLA
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Sofia%20Coppola%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Cailee%20Spaeny%2C%20Jacob%20Elordi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
